Belle & Sebastian revealed as ‘Best Scottish Band of All Time'

After a three-month public vote, Belle & Sebastian were named as the ‘Best Scottish Band of All Time’ at an exclusive Announcement Party at King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow. The prestigious accolade, sponsored by Orange, was announced in front of an invited audience of stars of the Scottish music scene past and present.

Also credited in second and third place were Travis and Idlewild respectively, the latter of which received the news after performing a storming acoustic set to bring the anticipation to a peak before the announcement.

Stuart Murdoch of winners Belle & Sebastian said: ‘We don’t think for a moment that we are the best band in Scotland, but we are thrilled to be on a list with some of our favourite artists like Teenage Fanclub and the Cocteau Twins. I think it says more about the fans than it does about us. We have a very loyal fan base. We’re absolutely delighted.’

We recently published a guide to the ‘50 Best Scottish Bands of All Time’, sponsored by Orange, and since then the public have been voting for their favourite Scottish band, whether they were included in our guide or not. There was a massive response with over 12,000 votes counted from both online and texting via Orange.

At the Announcement Party, Scottish artists took to the stage in support of the campaign, playing songs of their own and exclusive Scottish covers. Colin MacIntyre (Mull Historical Society) kicked off proceedings with The Jesus and Mary Chain’s ‘Some Candy Talking’, followed by Gary Lightbody and Nathan Connolly of Snow Patrol who covered an early Belle & Sebastian song called ‘The State That I Am In’ after a very special rendition of their top 5 hit ‘Run’.

Eugene Kelly (Vaselines) wowed the audience by playing a set of classic and seldom heard live Vaseline’s songs, followed by The Proclaimers ‘(I would walk) 500 Miles’ which had every foot in King Tut’s tapping. Then Idlewild whipped the crowd into a frenzy with their version of ‘(Don’t You) Forget About Me’ ’by the classic Simple Minds. In between sets, audio delights were provided by Belle & Sebastian’s DJ Richard Colburn who was blissfully unaware of the award they were about to scoop at the event.

Mark Robertson, Music Editor of The List magazine comments: ‘The idea behind the project was simple – to rediscover the very best of Scottish music from the finest musical talent spanning from the age of 70’s rock through to 80’s pop right up to today’s international stars. Everyone has strong opinions about who they believe deserves this prestigious accolade, and we wanted to open this up to the public to decide. The response was amazing, and we were delighted to be able to unveil the victors at such a special event this evening. Our thanks go to all artists who performed and attended the show, and to all those who worked with us over the course of the three months’

Pip MacLennan, Scottish PR and Sponsorship Manager, for Orange added: ‘Orange is delighted to have partnered The List in this very exciting project. We are very pleased so many people have voted for their favourite band and at the success of the Announcement Party. Of course we have to have a winner but we hope this has raised the profile of all the bands and the exciting Scottish music scene today.’

Vic Galloway, presenter of Radio 1 in Scotland and Radio Scotland’s Air, agreed: ‘I have really enjoyed being involved with The List 50 Best Scottish Bands of All Time. It has given us a chance to look back on Scotland’s consistently colourful musical heritage and to look to the future, through the artists who are currently enjoying international success or who have been cited as ‘ones to watch.’ The debate has been great fun, and we’ve been thrilled to bring that debate onto the show over the last three months. The Announcement Party was also a huge success, and remember you can hear exclusive interviews with the performers and guests, together with the live acoustic sets on the Radio 1 and Radio Scotland shows this week!’

The 50 Best Scottish Bands of All Time

(as voted for by the public)

Belle & Sebastian

Travis

Idlewild

Wet Wet Wet

Sensational Alex Harvey Band

Simple Minds

Teenage Fanclub

Bay City Rollers

Primal Scream

The Proclaimers

Texas

Mull Historical Society

Big Country

Snow Patrol

Franz Ferdinand

Bis

Deacon Blue

Fish

Jesus and Mary Chain

Mogwai

Runrig

Trash Can Sinatras

Del Amitri

Orange Juice

Nazareth

Beta Band

Biffy Clyro

Altered Images

Aztec Camera

Eddi Reader

Goodbye Mr Mackenzie

Fire Engines

Delgados

Arab Strap

Vaselines

Associates

The Pastels

Eurythmics

Aereogramme

Blue Nile

Boards of Canada

Rezillos

Incredible String Band

Cocteau Twins

Dogs Die in Hot Cars

Spare Snare

Average White Band

Lulu

Skids

Shamen

Comments

This list is badly flawed In terms of history. No Scottish band has achieved more than CLOUDS (formerly 1-2-3) - Both Scotland on Sunday ("The Greatest Scottish band and our most influential ever") and Sky Arts ("Progressive Rock's true genesis") agree, as did David Bowie ("a brand of unique pop music - Billy was an unrecognised genius"). Then again, glad to see Alex Harvey on the list - a true pioneer, so well done for that. But re Clouds/1-2-3 - Do Think again!